A common housecat gives birth to a rare species

AudubonInstitute /Video screen capture Housecats generally aren't known for their magnanimity or charitable spirit -- but still one domestic feline in New Orleans is grabbing headlines for her extraordinary gift towards wildlife conservation. For the first time ever, conservationists from the Audubon Nature Institute have successfully used a common cat as surrogate to a tiny African black-footed kitten, an adorable yet dwindling species. Using a relatively new process called inter-species embryo transfer, scientists implanted eggs artificially inseminated from two black-footed parents into a regular old housecat named Amelie. Three months later, she gave natural birth to Crystal, a kitten of another species -- and boy is she cute! In an interview with WAPT-TV , President and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute President, Ron Forman, says the pioneering technique that gave ...